Italian Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese and representatives from NGOs working in migrant search and rescue in the Mediterranean met on Friday. The ministry called the gathering "a first step for the start of a direct dialogue between the parties."
The two rescue ships Alan Kurdi and Ocean Viking were assigned a safe harbor at the Italian port of Pozzallo in Sicily. The nearly 200 migrants will be distributed to France, Germany and Italy, according to the private rescue organization SOS Mediterranee. A pregnant woman had been evacuated over the weekend, and one man remains missing since the Alan Kurdi rescued 91 migrants on Saturday.
At least three people were hurt in a clash between asylum seekers in a town on the Greek island of Samos. After mass violence erupted and fires broke out in the severely overcrowded migrant camp, Greek authorities evacuated the camp.
The migrant rescue ship Ocean Viking is heading to the port city of Taranto in Italy after being given permission to disembark 176 migrants. The migrants, including at least nine children, were rescued from two boats off the Libyan coast on Sunday.
After the private rescue vessel Ocean Viking saved 176 migrants over the weekend, the Italian coast guard picked up 108 migrants Monday morning. While the coast guard brought its migrants to the southern Italian port city of Roccella, the Ocean Viking is seeking permission to take the migrants to Italy or Malta.
Migrants who make the journey to Europe in boats face huge risks – not least to their physical and mental health. Those who become ill during their journey receive treatment on arrival, but they often struggle with lasting psychological trauma.
The Ocean Viking, a vessel jointly operated by SOS Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders, had rescued a total of 217 people in the Mediterranean, 35 of which were taken to Malta.
The private rescue ship, Ocean Viking operated by Doctors without borders (MSF) and SOS Mediterranee, picked up a further 34 people in the Mediterranean in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The migrants had issued a distress call on Monday and had been picked up first by a small sailing yacht.
Once a support and rescue vessel for offshore oil platforms, Norwegian-flagged Ocean Viking has now embarked upon a mission to rescue migrants in the Mediterranean. Here's an upclose look at what a rescue ship looks like from the inside. So, let's meet some of its crew and let them tell us about life aboard...
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has said that disastrous EU policies have led to thousands of vulnerable migrants being “trapped on the Greek islands in horrendous conditions.” It noted that there has been a fresh spike in arrivals recently and that children have tried to commit suicide and are engaging in self-harm.
Migrant rescue ship Ocean Viking saved 50 people on Sunday from a rubber dinghy off Libya's coast after Libyan authorities, responsible for search and rescue in that area of the Mediterranean, didn't answer multiple contact attempts. Meanwhile, the crew of German NGO ship Alan Kurdi has reported a new suicide attempt among its rescued migrants.
Sheds occupied by 130 migrants working as day laborers on farms in Metaponto di Bernalda, in the Basilicata province in southern Italy, were cleared by security forces on Wednesday morning. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has expressed concern over what will happen to the migrants now.